Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • In Brief
  • Published:

Glioblastoma

Branching out

Nature Reviews Cancer volume 13, page 520 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe

Branched-chain amino acid transaminase 1 (BCAT1), an enzyme that triggers the catabolism of branched-chain amino acids, is overexpressed in glioblastomas with wild-type isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) and IDH2. The activity of BCAT1 in human astrocytes is inhibited in the presence of mutant IDH1, and suppression of BCAT1 activity in IDH-wild-type glioma cell lines inhibited the excretion of glutamate, leading to reduced proliferation and invasiveness in vitro and reduced growth of glioblastoma xenografts in vivo.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Access through your institution

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Tönjes, M. et al. BCAT1 promotes cell proliferation through amino acid catabolism in gliomas carrying wild-type IDH1. Nature Med. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nm.3217 (2013)

Download references

Authors
  1. Nicola McCarthy
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

McCarthy, N. Branching out. Nat Rev Cancer 13, 520 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc3578

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc3578

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing